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Support Yourself

    I have known lots of people, young and old, denounce feminism because they were scared. Scared of being laughed at, labeled, or disliked. Why is this? Why is wanting equality and freedom bad? Feminism is not a bad or scary thing. 

    I have heard boys call feminism, "that lesbian thing" and I have heard girls whisper about feminism as though it is a dirty secret. Many of my friends have warped visions of feminism because of this. Feminism is not the hatred of men, it is the love of everyone. Quite the opposite, the goal of feminism is for everyone to be loved and accepted. Feminism is not about hating men, loving women, or being loud, feminism is about being human. 

    Humanity is respecting and showing love to all humans. Humanity is being decent to all. Humanity is not docking pay for uncontrollable things, stereotyping based on outward appearance. So why are we still doing these things? Why are we scared? 

    What is wrong with feminism. We have laws, protests, and speeches, yet when I wear a feminist t-shirt, I'm asked if I'm lesbian or crazy. What is the kink in our system? What is stopping our march to freedom?

    I can tell you right now the problem. No matter how many protests we have and the laws we pass, we aren't changing the mind of the truly sexist and homophobic human beings in the world. They will still scoff at our work. So the only way to truly change our world is to change THEIR minds. If you can change one person's mind, that is more vote, one more voice added to the cause. That one voice could change the outcome of so many things. That is one brick removed from the wall of sexism and homophobia that is blocking our way. 

    So, even if you can only change one mind, CHANGE IT! Make a change, make a mark, and make the future.

    Support your sisters, wives, friends, daughters, and most importantly SUPPORT YOURSELF!

Welcome To The 21st Century

    All of you have heard the phrase "Welcome to the 21st Century" at least once in your life. This term is meant to imply that the world has changed and things are different. We are different, we have modern technology, warfare, and those fancy espresso machines. But, these inventions did not come from nothing. Things like the laptop, have only evolved from their original forms. Humans have too. We went from the caveman to the articulate humans that we are today. The thing is, some things, have evolved so much from what they were, we can no longer recognize their existence.

     Feminism is one of those things. Just because women can vote and own land, doesn't mean that we are not still constantly belittled. Just like the computer, sexism has evolved and changed, and it still exists.

     A while back, I was standing outside a classroom, waiting for my teacher to open the door and start class. I am a huge book nerd. I read as much as I can, so I decided to take advantage of the time I had to wait, by taking a peek into the book I was currently reading. As I stood, reading my book, a boy, maybe a year older than me, walked by with his friends. I was oblivious, reading my book and waiting for class to start. As the boy and his friends walked near me, the boy in question, reached out and put his arm around me and said, "What's up Baby girl?" before retracting his arm and joining his friends once more, laughing like a hyena. I was so confused, what had made him do that? The more I thought about it the angrier I got,  when did he get permission to touch me or call me "baby girl"? Was I just entertainment for him and his buddies?

     I began to ponder more and more what sexism is. When I asked my friends what they thought of sexism, they dismissed it, saying things like, "Sexism isn't in our school," but, the more I looked at the world around me at school, I saw sexism everywhere. I saw it in the dress code, when boys wore tank tops without punishment, when girls were rated on their looks during lunch and when the boys used demeaning terms for girls, just to see their reaction. Was this the glorious and modern treatment of women? That is why I have decided to create the blog "Damsel" to discuss women's rights and the definition of sexism, past and present. I want to look past the 5-word definition given in history class. So, join me on my quest into the 21st Century.